Integrel Solutions announce Osprey Technical Consulting as a key technical and installation partner

Integrel Solutions, experts in marine power generation, storage, and hybrid propulsion technology, are delighted to announce marine electronics specialists Osprey Technical Consulting as a key technical and installation partner.

Collaboratively, the teams at Integrel Solutions and Osprey Technical will provide end-to-end support including design services, installation planning and coordination, and commissioning for the Integrel E-Power system and the eagerly awaited Integrel E-Drive, set to launch later in 2024. Osprey Technical will also closely engage with boatyards and end users to shape the broader electrical package of vessels, unlocking the full potential of integrated charging and power systems. This approach not only improves the efficiency and performance of a vessel through saving onboard weight, project time, and future upgrade costs, but also aligns with Integrel Solution’s recent partnership with Navico Group and their Fathom® e-power brand to develop the ultimate integrated power solution offering boaters complete monitoring and control, and an alternative to traditional genset solutions.

Trevor Howard, CEO of Integrel Solutions said; “One of Integrel’s fundamental principles is that we offer our customers the very best service, from product specification and system design through to the installation, commissioning, and after-sales support. Recognising Osprey Technical’s expertise in the marine industry along with their existing knowledge of Integrel products made the decision to team up easy. We look forward to working closely with Osprey in the months and years ahead.”

Rachel Oliver, Managing Director of Osprey Technical Consulting, added, “We have worked alongside the Integrel Solutions team recently on installations and I am pleased to bring this relationship even closer together. Our dedication to excellence in installation and technical support aligns with Integrel’s vision to empower boatbuilders and boat owners with the choice to make a meaningful environmental impact on the water with their reliable and innovative E-Power and E-Drive technologies.”

Osprey Technical will also be actively involved in the final testing phase of the DAME Award Category winning Integrel E-Drive 15, set for release in 2024. This involvement underscores Osprey’s commitment to staying at the forefront of technological advancements in the marine industry and delivering top-tier solutions to customers.

Boat enthusiasts and industry professionals attending Boot Dusseldorf 2024 (20-28 January) are invited to visit the Integrel Solutions and Osprey Technical Consulting teams in Hall 10, Stand C02 to explore the future of integrated marine power systems.

Gunboat appoints electronics experts Osprey Technical for first two Gunboat 80s

Marine electronics specialists Osprey Technical have developed and installed the customised electronics package and systems on the new, soon to be launched, Gunboat 80-01. As a result of their close working relationship and highly professional support, Gunboat has commissioned and contracted Osprey Technical to supply the electronics package for the subsequent Gunboat 80-02.

Gunboat 80 nav station

 In 2021 Osprey Technical was approached to quote for and supply the electronics package for HF-18 the first of the Gunboat 80s. These new yachts are a departure from previous production models, with clients requiring a high level of customisation in all aspects of the build, including the complex electronics systems. Gunboat recognised that Osprey had both the technical expertise and the client management skills to handle this project.

 “We have moved to larger, more bespoke, custom yachts with clients that demand an ever-higher level of quality, technology and quick reaction time to changes,” explains William Jelbert, COO at Gunboat. “Osprey’s experience as a raceboat and superyacht provider, plus the remote service and support they offer made them the best choice for our clients’ exacting requirements.” 

 With detailed experience of all systems available on the market, Osprey responded to the client’s detailed brief with an instrument package, design and installation plan based around the A+T Instruments range. As Gunboat were new to A+T Instruments’ products, the Osprey team brought the expertise to recommend, install and optimise the system to interface effectively with other key onboard systems. They were also invited to review the proposed electrical systems (which they were not supplying), resulting specification changes enabling Gunboat to considerably reduce the overall package weight.

Installation work by the Osprey team.

 Critical to successful electronics installations on this scale is excellent planning, design, communications management with all parties and testing. In-line with their proven in-house processes, Osprey invited the client together with the hydraulics package supplier to their workshops to a demonstration of the working system. This enabled them to test, prove and develop the communications between the A+T Instruments processor and the hydraulics PLC hardware prior to the entire system being shipped to the boat.

 Rachel Oliver, Osprey Technical MD explains, “Typically, this type of testing does not happen until commissioning. We can bring testing forwards and resolve any issues on our specialist test bench. This reduces the risk of any delays at the commissioning stages in the yard, which keeps costs down and the project on track for the builder and the new owner.”

 William Jelbert adds, “There is a vast amount of co-ordination in a project of this scale. What drew us to Osprey is the team’s ability to manage complex communications across all parties and suppliers involved, their comprehensive design drawings and wiring schematics, along with their off-site testing service. The precise planning and preparation stages made it completely straight forwards for Gunboat to install the system to Osprey’s specification.”

 Following the handover of the Gunboat 80-01 to her new owners, Osprey will be providing expert advice and rapid response support to her new owners and boat captain, which includes Osprey’s proprietary remote monitoring services. 

Commissioning Gunboat 80 - Highland Fling 18

Richard Kent appointed as Director for Osprey Technical

Richard Kent has been appointed as a Director at Osprey Technical following a career of over two decades at the top end of professional yacht race marine electronics.

Richard Kent

Richard joined the Hamble-based company that specialises in complex marine electronics for superyachts and racing yachts in 2021, to head up the Tiger Lily Too – Gunboat 90 refit in Newport RI.

His promotion to Director comes at stage where the company is growing rapidly and expanding its work with major superyacht yards and builders.

Starting out with an electronics qualification, Richard initially worked with established marine electronics firms, before moving to a variety of Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup campaigns. Starting with the IACC yachts for 2002 One World Challenge, he moved to the Victory Challenge, then Alinghi and subsequently to Oracle, for the first of the AC72 foiling cats.

After the Bermuda America’s Cup, Richard joined management team at Sailmon to help grow the business over a 2-year period.

“Becoming a Director at Osprey is a new career highlight for me,” comments Richard. “Previously, it was being part of the ABN Amro and Ericson teams that won the Volvo Ocean Race. As well as being closely involved in running the electronics teams for major projects, I’m going to be more involved with shaping the growth of Osprey and mentoring and developing our engineering team skill set.”

Outside of work, Richard has sailed at Hayling Island since childhood and still enjoys racing there when time allows, along with his wife and three children.

System specification for integrated marine electronics

Part 2 in our series on Managing integrated marine electronics for superyachts discusses Osprey Technical’s approach to system specification.

Osprey Technical are truly independent equipment suppliers, with the sole focus of putting together the best specification for the project. At the heart of the instrumentation specification is the choice of processor system and building an infrastructure that can accommodate change once the superyacht is in full commission, as technology, equipment and software evolves over time.

With experience across many top-end race boat and luxury cruising yacht projects, Osprey Technical have developed a close working relationship with FaRo, the specialist manufacturers of the processing systems behind many superyachts and America’s Cup AC45’s and AC72s.

Faro provides a completely flexible platform and significantly, has a seamless interface to the Cariboni hydraulic PLC, making this an ideal match for the project. With Faro it is possible to support and integrate data from a wide range of systems. For example, serial data from the load sensing equipment from Synapse and the UDP streams from the fibre optic measurements. It also enables the generation of digital outputs to trigger alarm signals to the vessels alarm and monitoring system.

With a large number of custom variables requiring visual display to operate the yacht optimally and safely, the choice of instrumentation was A and T Instruments. This was primarily because, compared with the NMEA 2000 displays that are widely available from other equipment manufacturers, the A and T units were best able to handle the extensive list of variable outputs.

As an example, it has been possible to read in a complete UDP stream from the Faro, and simply name each variable as push out to the displays. This set up combines simplicity of interfacing with the highest quality of display hardware engineering.

Successful integration of all systems relies upon the quality of the managed IT infrastructure. Osprey’s thorough consideration and planning of the IT network architecture allows:

• full control of which systems can access each other

• which users can access which systems (both locally aboard and remotely)

• modes and quality of internet access available to the various user groups aboard

Inhouse system build leaves nothing to chance

The next phase is a complete build of all the systems inside Osprey Technical’s workshops in Hamble, in the UK.

The entire system is assembled, where possible including equipment from other technical partners, to configure and commission everything as far as realistically possible before the installation stage.

Osprey Technical’s meticulous approach seeks to:

• iron out any issues and unknowns on the workbench 

• flag up issues that need sorting either during or before the installation stage.

The preparations are made with the mindset of the end user – the set up needs to be practical to use in testing conditions.

“It’s just like preparing for a big race,” says Rachel Oliver, MD of Osprey Technical. “The more un-knowns we can eliminate, the more efficient and effective the installation stage will be.”

With a strong focus on project communications, forward thinking and planning, the Osprey team’s experience really helps save time and money. By being able to give the yard a clear indication of what must be ready by set milestone dates, it means there are specific priorities for each stage of the installation.

This rigorous system development stage enables a relatively smooth installation phase to take place. As the working and travel restrictions of the Covid 19 pandemic began to hit in 2020, it meant that the installation teams including the Nautor project teams, foremen and Osprey Technical’s own engineers were able to work quickly and efficiently as the build stages progressed.

Inevitably, there are always some bumps in the road, as new micro projects within the main project arise. These are far more easily managed, if the fundamental project work is running smoothly.

See Part 1 - Designing marine electronics for luxury superyachts

See Part 3 - Vessel Fusion remote access to all technical marine electronics systems

Vessel Fusion - remote access to all technical marine electronics systems

Part 3 – in our series on Managing integrated marine electronics for superyachts explains Vessel Fusion – Osprey Technical’s bespoke remote access service, and commissioning.

Osprey Technical have deployed their own remote access service – Vessel Fusion. This provides robust and secure remote access for third party technical partners, connecting them via a dedicated VPN directly to their equipment on the yacht.  

The access is secure and controlled which means only the relevant technical provider can access their equipment. This brings peace of mind to both the yacht and the technical partner. The VPN connection is equivalent to physically being on the yacht and connecting your hardware into the yacht’s network – effectively bridging local and remote systems.

As systems become more complex and critical for safe and optimal vessel operation, there is a growing need for effective remote support. Covid-19 has only served to accelerate this requirement. Crews need swift access to specialist technical backup. There is only so far one can get with a remote desktop (or equivalent) session.

Vessel Fusion uses VPN access making it possible to connect engineering tools and facilities to the vessel remotely. Examples include:

• taking remote control of multifunction displays and autopilot processors

• configuring systems that rely upon proprietary iOS or Android apps

• bridging CAN buses to apply software updates

• linking Google glasses on the yacht to a remote PC

The possibilities Vessel Fusion creates are vast.

Osprey Technology’s MD, Rachel Oliver adds “During the course of the pandemic, Vessel Fusion has become core to our operations. We have a seen a surge in demand for this service and we are now supporting technical suppliers not only in marine but also in oil and gas and surveying industries.  

Where these companies previously relied upon getting engineers to site, we have kept their business moving through Vessel Fusion. The results have been so transformative that these companies won’t go back to the conventional ways of working – benefiting from instant remote access and a huge reduction in logistical costs, time and effort.”

Remote support - live link to active vessels

Commissioning on site and beyond

The latter stages of the ClubSwan 125 project involve commissioning the integrated marine electronics, so that this amazing new superyacht is fit to leave the yard and start testing.

Detailed checklists are prepared by Osprey Technical for the commissioning plan, and the team work closely to support the Engineer and Navigator through this stage.

All the team at Osprey Technical have deep technical engineering expertise as well as a thorough understanding of the on board roles and ship’s environment, having all been at sea many times themselves.

“As we have the engineering skills, and the sailing and racing experience too, we understand what they are trying to achieve with the kit, which means we can also help them get even more out of it,” explains Rachel. “We are generally working with people who are very experienced in their own right, and what we are aiming to ensure is they get the most out of their systems, both as the boat is first launched and for the longer term once the boat is away from the yard.  When these boats leave the yard that’s not the end of the project – it’s really just the beginning.”

See Part 1 - designing marine electronics for luxury superyachts

See part 2 - system specification for integrated marine electronics